St Philip's Marsh depot

St Philip's Marsh depot is a railway depot located in the St Philip's Marsh district of Bristol, England.

Originally established as a steam locomotive shed in 1910 the facility closed in the 1960s and work shifted 500m east to Marsh Junction depot (opened 1959), which maintained DMUs; Marsh Junction DMU work was later transferred to Bristol Bath Road depot, and the building used for permanent way train maintenance from 1970. In the mid 1970s an expansion to the west with sheds long enough to store a full length train was constructed for introduction of the Intercity 125 trainsets.

History

St. Phillip's Marsh

Bristol Temple Meads was the second major terminus for the Great Western Railway after London Paddington, and so both required and deserved adequate locomotive servicing facilities.[1]

The main Bristol divisional repair and maintenance facility was located on the old Bristol and Exeter Railway shed at Bristol (Bath Road), on the western throat of Bristol Temple Meads. This was allocated mainly the passenger classes, but a second shed was still required due to that sites geographical restrictions next to the River Avon.[1]

Constructed to Churchward's standard-pattern two-turntable with northernlight roof design, the site layout allowed for two additional turntables to the rear of the structure should they be required. Based on the pattern design set by Old Oak Common, the rail level was 30 feet (9.1 m) above general ground level, with the shed foundations sat on concrete piles. 28 roads radiated from each 65-foot (20 m) turntable, each road having its own inspection pit. There was a standard pattern twin-ramp coaling stage, but the repair shop was only a small two-road building, due to the closeness of Bristol (Bath Road). A boiler washing plant was added in 1924, and ash shelters during World War II.[1]

Opened in July 1910, St Philip's Marsh was allocated mainly freight classes and 0-6-0 Pannier Tanks, which plied their trade mainly in either Bristol Docks or at Avonmouth.[1]

Post nationalisation, under British Railways both Bath Road (82A) and St Philip's Marsh (82B) gained additional allocation from the closure of the local London Midland and Scottish Railway sheds. However, located on a main national route and with an equally large-scale shed on the opposite throat of the station, Bath Road was one of the first sheds to be closed to steam locomotives from September 1960. Rebuilt as a diesel depot, it retained one of its two turntables.[1]

St Philip's Marsh itself closed to steam in June 1964.[1]

The locomotive sheds were subsequently demolished, and the site disconnected from the rail network west of Albert Crescent by the 1970s.[2] The site of the locomotive sheds has been redeveloped as a fruit market.[3]

Marsh Junction depot

The main work depot shifted ~500m to the east of Albert Crescent to Marsh Junction depot; a four road depot was opened in 1959, used mainly to service DMUs. DMU work was later transferred to Bristol Bath Road depot; after 1970 the depot was used for maintaining permanent way plant.[2][4]

Part of the shed (2 tracks) was extended 15 m (49 ft) in 2006 allowing 3 car DMU sets to be maintained.[5]

Philips Marsh HST depot

The site east of Albert Crescent was expanded in the mid 1970s with the construction of new maintenance sheds 250m west of Marsh Junction DMU depot for InterCity 125 trains; capable of holding an entire trainset under cover.[6][7][8] In 2006 First Great Western created a new maintenance shed adjacent to the HST sheds, and upgrading other site facilities, at a cost of £8million.[5][9]

Present

First Great Western British Rail Class 153 Sprinter (left) Class 43 power car (centre) and Mark 3 carriage (right) on shed at St Philip's Marsh T&RSMD

St Philip's Marsh T&RSMD is owned by Network Rail, operating under code PM, fully leased to operator First Great Western.

The site is used for the maintenance of First Great Western InterCity 125 trains operating between London Paddington, Bristol and South Wales. Both Class 43 power cars and Mark 3 coaching stock are serviced here.

Following the merger of the old First Great Western (FGW) and Wessex Trains operations into the 'Greater Western' franchise, still operating under the First Great Western name, a decision was made to use St Philip's Marsh to maintain FGW's fleet of British Rail Class 150 Sprinter diesel multiple units, previously maintained at Cardiff Canton TMD by Arriva Trains Wales. This meant that the large number of trains operating in the West Country were no longer required to travel through the congested Severn Tunnel.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Edward T. Lyons C.Eng MIStrucE (1978). An Historical Survey of Great Western Engine Sheds 1947. Oxford Publishing Co. ISBN 0902888161.
  2. 1 2 Ordnance Survey. 1:10565/1:10000. 1967-9, 1973-6
  3. ↑ Lindop, Peter (11 March 2008), First Great Western, St Philips Marsh Traction & Rolling Stock Maintenance Depot, Bristol, The Locomotive & Carriage Institution
  4. ↑ Maggs, Colin Gordon (1981), Rail Centres, Bristol, p. 87
  5. 1 2 "Work progresses on modernised St Philips Marsh Depot", www.therailwaycentre.com, 26 Oct 2006
  6. ↑ Johnson, John; Long, Robert A. (1981), Bond, Roland C., ed., British Railway Engineering, 1948-80, p. 196
  7. ↑ Chartered Institute of Transport Journal, 37-38, 1975: 261 Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ↑ "Trainset maintenance aspects on BR", Railway Engineer 1–3, 1976: 492
  9. ↑ "New Bristol engineering depot", www.railwaystrategies.co.uk, 30 Nov 2006

Literature

External links

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